I'm Canadian and my wife is Swedish. Our kids are turning 6 and 9, and we are moving from Sweden to the Philippines in January 2007. My son is starting Kindergarden this year and my daughter grade 3. English is not their first language...

My question is how do we get started with homeschooling?

Where we will be staying has teachers to help the kids with homeschooling on a daily basis, although we are responsible for bringing the books and learning materials.

What do we need to purchase for them to be prepared for the rest of the school year? Where do we turn?

Well, you probably want a packaged curriculum with lesson plans already laid out, that includes some form of specific grammar and vocabulary training. A good secular curriculum is Calvert, and there are a number of Christian curriculums including Bob Jones (BJU), Christian Liberty Academy (CLASS), Covenant Home Curriculum, etc. You can view links to these and other curriculums here, but it's even better if you can see them in action, so you might want to check if there are homeschool groups near you (the military bases will probably know). If you do happen to find one, please ask them to submit themselves to our groups listing!